


Cicero

by Kieron_ODuibhir



Series: Cirque de Triomphe [49]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batwoman (Comic), DCU
Genre: Court of Owls, Drama, Earth-3, Epistolary, Friendship, Gen, Gotham City Police Department, Mirror Universe, Night of the Owls, Rated for Jason's mouth, Talons everywhere, attempted coup, chatspeak, halloween fic, serious violence strongly implied, spooky secret society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-27 17:52:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5058184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kieron_ODuibhir/pseuds/Kieron_ODuibhir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce Wayne's control over his Court slips for the first time in fifteen years, and the rest of Gotham gets to deal with the fallout.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cicero

**Author's Note:**

> This work has been expanded from the version seen on ffdotnet.

**GothamFireman76:** So are you guys behind whatever's up with the Owls? Heat Sink says she saw Talon _carrying_ Himself onto a speedboat last night.

 **whyaren'tyousmiling:** you mean their headless chicken impression? hahaha sadly, no. not us.

 **whyaren'tyousmiling:** our local expert says it looks like civil war's broken out.

 **GothamFireman76:** Civil war? Half the gang are just sitting around with their thumbs up their asses. I've got a serial arsonist here got everything set to burn down First Baptist & then didn't put the light because he couldn't get the okay from up top!

 **whyaren'tyousmiling:** they'll get dragged in before long. but it's not a gang war. somebody's making a play for the _Court._

 **GothamFireman76:** Hood's sure about this?!

 **whyaren'tyousmiling:** pretty. get your boss to sniff around his social set, see if any cracks are showing on the surface? be good to figure out who's got the brass ones to challenge the psycho on his own turf and send him showing tailfeathers. y'know, /soon/.

 **GothamFireman76:** Mothman's not my boss.

 **whyaren'tyousmiling:** srry, my mistake. can he go reconnoiter the rich people parties anyway?

 **GothamFireman76:** Yeah, yeah.

* * *

_[From the desk of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gotham]:_

Commissioner Loeb,

Permission to issue a PSA of gang activity in neighborhoods including the Gotham Heights, and advise a curfew? Frankly, sir, gang activity is what we _hope_ it is. The swamp lights miles from all swampland and mysteriously appearing giant patches of blood would be provoking hysteria in the inner city, never mind this far north. It's going to look even worse if we do nothing until good citizens have already started disappearing, than if we suggest now the gang violence is spilling out of the slums. Crisis management.

And Mr. Wayne still isn't answering his calls, sir. Sorry. No one's seen him in days. I'm sure he'll understand you tried your best to contact him.

* * *

 _ **From** (xxx) xxx-xxxx __**Eddie**_ _10:57 PM_ : prtty sre jst sw Tln w/ THE CAT rf hpping 2wrd Brstol near Westwrd Brdg. O_O?!

 _ **To** (xxx) xxx-xxxx __**Eddie**_ _11:04 PM_ : yeah, waylon saw em too. question is, is his boss dead and he's going into jewel theft, or did they pay her commission fee and the big bird tucked away somewhere safe?

* * *

  ** _From_** _(xxx) xxx-xxxx 12:36 AM:_ Jokester? Is this really your #?

 ** _To_** _ _(xxx) xxx-xxxx__ _12:37 AM:_ yeah whos this? :D

 ** _ ** _From_**_** _ _(xxx) xxx-xxxx__ _12:39 AM:_ Firefly. Listen, that civil war you were talking about the other day? I just had what looked like seven Owlmans go past. Not even ashamed to say I hid.

 ** _To_** _ _(xxx) xxx-xxxx **Firefly**__ _12:42 AM:_ o man. gimme a second i have sources i will pick brains.

 _ **To** (xxx) xxx-xxxx **Firefly** 12:47 AM: _so good news is there are not seven owlmans. owlmen. probably. bad news is those were probably talons. hiding was great idea, the best. tell us anything else you find out but DONT DIE.

* * *

 _Fuck it to fucking hell, he's_ _**back**_ _. Red Hood to Circus, damn it! Something big's going down tonight, guys; be ready to contain fallout. Fuck you, Drake, you shitfucking moron; had him incapacitated in a boat I'd have pushed him over the fucking side and kept fucking sailing into the sunset you pathetic little weas—[transmission cuts out]_

* * *

 _ **From** (xxx) xxx-xxxx __**Eddie**_ _2:14 AM_ : Tln is fghtn OTHER TLNS?! is hrvy shttng me, j, wht n th actl hll?

 _ **To** (xxx) xxx-xxxx __**Eddie**_ _2:20 AM:_ struth. hood says a courtier once told him talons never die; they keep the mentally unstable ones unconscious in coffins. looks like maybe not a lie. weve got eyes on him; try to focus on the collateral. they don't care who gets in thier way.

 _ **From** (xxx) xxx-xxxx __**Eddie**_ _2:49 AM:_ fnd corpse. so i guess jsn's bn tld bein cut n2 6 pcs & set n fire enough 2 kll hm?

* * *

_This is squad car 794 calling in._

_Dispatch reads you._

_We need...God, we need a couple of ambulances, the firefighters aren't here yet, and maybe the bomb squad? Can we get a bomb squad?_

_Has there been a bomb threat issued?_

_No, but..._

_SWAT is on its way._

_What's SWAT going to do? Help the Owls shoot each other faster? How about you send us an **exorcist** , pal, can't possibly be more useless—_

_That's enough, Detective Bullock. Car 794?_

_HOLY SHIT. WHAT IS THAT— [gunfire]_

_Officer down. This is Detective Montoya, we've just reached the scene. **Officer down.**  
_

* * *

**_From_** _(xxx) xxx-xxxx **J** 4:02 AM: _sending you 154 people need to hide in the tunnels. cleared it w morlocks just ask for kiff. crazy owls smashed up their block, then talked about eliminating witnesses. ms rudoleski is unanimously in charge, she hit a talon with a frying pan.

 ** _To_** _(xxx) xxx-xxxx **J** 4:04 AM: _ Roger. I got this.

 ** _From_** _(xxx) xxx-xxxx **J** 4:05 AM: _ know you do, scales. :) don't worry, they know you don't bite.

* * *

_Heads are still spinning in the aftermath of Gotham's most sensational murder in many years. As reported by this publication in the early edition, Marine Captain Kathryn 'Kate' Kane of the Gotham Kanes was found dead at 6:10 in the morning in front of the Robinson Square Fountain. Reliable sources have since confirmed that the Captain's body was laid out spread-eagled, with her throat savagely cut, dressed in an armoured owl costume with the feathered wings spread out around her, and the mask pulled back to expose her face._

_Police Commissioner Loeb reports that his department is doing their utmost to get to the bottom of this 'dire event.' Colonel Jacob Kane, closest living relative and former legal guardian of the deceased, has called the situation "tragedy compounded by slander," but has refused further comment._

_Official military sources have likewise declined comment, but one Marine speaking on condition of anonymity reports that Kane was "one of the toughest officers I've served with, and definitely the scariest woman. Murdering her—that's not a job for an amateur. Don't know what's up with the bird suit, though."_

_Reached for comment, our own Bruce Wayne calls the loss of Captain Kane "a tragic waste."_

_Asked whether he thinks his second cousin could have been the notorious crimelord Owlman, whom many still dismiss as an urban legend, Wayne says, "Anything is possible, and Kate would have liked passing for a man, but I doubt it. If nothing else, she was deployed away from Gotham most of the time. It's much more likely she ran afoul of him somehow."_

_The billionaire adds, "I'm sure our fine police force will get to the bottom of the case before long."_

" _Kate always seemed so serious," says the captain's only living first cousin, tennis star Bette Kane. "Hard-headed, I mean. Practical. It's hard to believe she could have been involved in anything that—_ weird. _"_

_This reporter also reached another second cousin, Adeline Kane Wilson, who forbore to comment on the shocking death while the investigation is ongoing, and claims little knowledge of the deceased. "On the surface of it, Kate and I had a lot in common," says the former First Lady and Army captain, who now runs a well-regarded international detective firm, "but we never quite saw eye to eye."_

_It is not yet known whether Captain Kane will be accorded a military funeral._

* * *

Jacob,

Stop playing these games. You knew the risks when you goaded your niece into challenging me.

You survive because you are useful. Trust that if you attempt to misuse your influence any further, your body will not be exposed to public observation—or, indeed, ever seen again.

Please recall the oaths you took with slightly more pretense of sincerity.

* * *

 **To:** lhommequiritte@hotmail.com

This is Deep Freeze. What in the name of anything happened last night? You didn't keep Crystal in the loop.

 **To:** vfries@ustate.edu

oh man you use your work email for this? :DDDDDD that's hilarious. tell Sink sorry. things got busy. will send out blast once we finish picking up pieces. short story is the court of owls almost imploded but talon held things together. i really hate that kid.

* * *

_Timothy—_

_I am sorry urgent business kept me away when I knew you were due for your customary infiltration. I have followed your recent adventures with interest, and must say that I hope your present teacher appreciates your loyalty as he should._

_Sincerely,_

_Ra's_

**Author's Note:**

> The Talons seen in the Night of Owls looked remarkably like Owlman had pre-52, rather than like his evil sidekicks had. Here, Bruce invented the role of King-of-Owls and appropriated Talon's distinctive look, and put his Talons in more minimalist gear. Kate establishing herself as Owlwoman (for all of three days) is interesting because she was relying on the political pushback from Courtiers who didn't like having Bruce Wayne as the boss of them, but claiming an office he created rather than trying for a return to the old status quo.
> 
> Post-Crisis Batwoman Kate Kane was kicked out of West Point under DADT; this version is sneakier and thus has a career. Whether Martha Wayne was born a Kane has been flipped more than once; I've lost track, but so far as I know Adeline has never been made part of that particular Kane family (in fact sometimes her family is British because _obviously that's why she joined the US Army_ ), but it's funnier this way so in my head that's how it is. Everybody is cousins. Bette you may know as Flamebird.
> 
> I have no actual excuse for Jacob Kane being in the Court of Owls except it made the story work better. >> Pay no attention to that bird behind the curtain.


End file.
